A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST ECONOMICS BOOK OF 2022 'A landmark book... The Blue Commons is at once a
brilliant synthesis a searing analysis and an inspiring call to action.' - David Bollier
'With remarkable erudition passion and lyricism Guy Standing commands the reader to wake up
to the threat posed by rentier capitalism's violent policies for extraction exploitation and
depletion of that which is both common to us all but also vital to our survival: the sea and
all within it.' - Ann Pettifor 'Shines a bright light on the economy of the oceans directing
us brilliantly towards where a sustainable future lies.' - Danny Dorling 'This is a powerful
visionary book - essential reading for all who yearn for a better world.' - Jason Hickel The
sea provides more than half the oxygen we breathe food for billions of people and livelihoods
for hundreds of millions. But giant corporations are plundering the world's oceans aided by
global finance and complicit states following the neoliberal maxim of Blue Growth. The
situation is dire: rampant exploitation and corruption now drive all aspects of the ocean
economy destroying communities intensifying inequalities and driving fish populations and
other ocean life towards extinction. The Blue Commons is an urgent call for change from a
campaigning economist responsible for some of the most innovative solutions to inequality of
recent times. From large nations bullying smaller nations into giving up eco-friendly fishing
policies to the profiteering by the Crown Estate in commandeering much of the British seabed
the scale of the global problem is synthesised here for the first time as well as a toolkit
for all of us to rise up and tackle it. The oceans have been left out of calls for a Green New
Deal but must be at the centre of the fight against climate change. How do we do it? By
building a Blue Commons alternative: a transformative worldview and new set of proposals that
prioritise the historic rights of local communities the wellbeing of all people and with it
the health of our oceans.
